Pushy Trick or Treaters

This is a discussion on Pushy Trick or Treaters within the Off Topic & Humor Discussion forums, part of the The Back Porch category; I don't know what parents are teaching thier children but it sure isn't caution or patience(not including the parents on this forum). I don't hand ...

Pushy Trick or Treaters

I don't know what parents are teaching thier children but it sure isn't caution or patience(not including the parents on this forum). I don't hand out candy on Halloween due to my faith for one reason. The other is the increasingly aggressive nature of the Trick or treaters in our neighborhood. I had the lights turned out on my house, because when I was a child my parents taught me that is a sign the person doesn't want you approaching their house. I had one group approach my house and ring the door bell a couple of times. The second group were more aggressive, they rang the door bell three times, beat their fists on the door and walked off. the last group responded like the second group, but kicked my door a couple of times. I found dents in my storm door this morning. Next year I think I will leave the lights on and post a sign on my door and in my yard that says"We don't hand out treats" Is that being silly? Any other suggestions?

If I can get the quote from my pastor right. Trick or treaters would charge into hell with a squirt gun for some candy. We did the trunk or treat rounds. The one's that came by my mom's were well behaved. Sorry to hear the kids in your area are so poorly parented.

The second group were more aggressive ... rang ... beat their fists ... kicked my door a couple of times. I found dents in my storm door this morning.

Next year I think I will leave the lights on and post a sign on my door and in my yard that says "We don't hand out treats"

Is that being silly?

The little kids are generally fine. Mostly, they've been taught well and have a good view of the night's pleasures.

It's the older blighters who give it all a bad name. The worst of them can feel empowered to kick and dent your door, in their demanding and exasperating cretin manner, are exactly the ones whose zealotry will extend to doing something nastier to your home when you document your refusal to give them gifts in writing. It might be rotten fruit, or a bag of feces. It might be a spray painting of your door/entry area, tossing a few raw eggs (aka, paint stripper) at your home or car's hood, or the breaking of windows in the car in your driveway.

Caution, since such people who take "your refusal" as a diss will think it's their right to do you and yours damage that night in recompense.

What else can you do? In past years, when it has gotten ugly and bad in a neighborhood, that way, I've put up mounds of the fake spiderweb stuff to block the doorway area, placed a little tub of small candy out by the sidewalk, then turned off the light and gone elsewhere. So far, at least, I've not been hit in the way I describe above, since using this method. Previously, when it appears that I was home but wouldn't come out, that is when retribution followed. If you haven't yet experienced it, you don't know what you're missing.

Originally Posted by dukalmighty

yep or turn a sprinkler on that prevents them from getting to the front door

Haven't had sprinklers, though I've admired the idea for a long time. It's simple, fair, non-marring. It provides distance, and it'll only fail against those who throw things. About as good a deterrent as you can create.

Most of the children in our neighborhood have grown up and moved on. The kids that we have come by are from blocks away. I have not participated in Halloween in a few years because of this. I find it appealling to sit on the front porch in the dark and enjoy a drink and a cigar while watching the kids. Many times I have had them start up the front walk only to see me sitting in the shadows and have them back away. It also lets them know that I am watching. It is truly amazing how well behaved they can be as they pass from one house to another when they know they are being watched.

It does surprise me a bit that in this day and age that parents have not taught most kids to raise their awareness as they pass through the neighborhoods.